Core Record

Agar was a French painter active in England and Denmark. This painting seems to be a pair with John Tufton 4th Earl of Thanet, also in the collection (AH 2305/81). The inscriptions on this group of portraits appear to be later additions and therefore there is some confusion as to the actual identities of the sitters. This pair could depict, as stated, John 4th Earl and his Mother; or John 2nd Earl and his countess; or Nicholas 3rd Earl (1631-1679) and his countess, Elizabeth Boyle (d.1725); or Thomas 6th Earl (1644-1729) and his countess, Catherine Cavendish (1665-1712). A date around 1680 is suggested by the clothing and hairstyle of the sitter, so the likely subject is Catherine, wife to the 6th Earl. She was the daughter of Ralph Wilbrahim of Woodhey, Cheshire and married Col. the Hon Sackville Tufton, whose portrait is also in the gallery's collection (AH 2282/81), in 1686.